We’re having a cold snap here in Baltimore.

(All the Syracuse people are like… mmmmkay.)

But for real it’s in the 20s and 30s! And we have the usual thing where they are predicting a huge snow storm so everyone will freak out and go buy extra bottled water and paper towels despite still having some of their COVID stockpile, we’ll get one inch of snow, no one will be able to drive, and then it will be over.

As a native Upstate New Yorker I personally don’t mind the cold or the snow, but I do miss being able to go for walks every day with Greta and Louise. It’s nice to get out of the house for a bit and maybe have some polite social interaction to break up the home office monotony.

Like a couple of weeks ago when we were out and a nice lady asked “Aww! How old is she?”

And I said “Almost 3!”

It wasn’t until I got home that I realized she was definitely asking about Greta’s age, not Louise’s.

So while this lady is left pondering my stupidity OR my tiny miraculous 3-year-old in a baby carrier, let’s make some stew.

This recipe is adapted from one in the Serving New York cookbook– gifted to me by NYC restaurant expert and general fine dining enthusiast, Amanda Lee.

It’s a Momofuku recipe that I cut down significantly in prep time and quantity, and we absolutely loved it. So while I’m confident David Chang’s recipe is superior, this one is really good.

Beef & Kimchi Stew

makes 4-5 servings

1 1/2 (ish) lbs stew meat

3 onions, thinly sliced

16 oz spicy kimchi

4 cups chicken or beef stock

2 tsp mirin (or rice vinegar with a little sugar)

rice, scallions, and carrots for serving

The original recipe calls for a 3 lb pork shoulder which marinates for 6+ hours and then slow roasts for another 6. I cut a major corner by switching to stew meat, but it works!

Mix a tablespoon of sugar and a tablespoon of Kosher salt and rub it all over the meat. Let it sit for at least an hour, covered in the fridge. But also if you have to skip this step it’s probably fine.

Heat some canola oil in the bottom of a pan and sear the beef- possibly in two batches. Set aside. Add a little more oil, if needed, and add all the onions. Cook on medium-low until they are golden brown. You don’t have to go all the way to caramelized but you want them past translucent.

Chop up the kimchi and add that in with the onions.

Add the beef and the stock (I used chicken stock because it’s all I had but obviously beef stock would be a natural choice here) and let it simmer, stirring occasionally, for 3-4 hours. Stir in the mirin, or sweetened rice vinegar, at the very end.

Serve over rice, with chopped scallions and shredded carrots. You can eat this with a spoon because the beef will just fall apart. Sign of a great stew.

I’m not sure anything will ever top Chrissy Teigen’s beef stew, but this one is definitely a different (and slightly lighter?) take on a cold weather fav. If you’re iffy on kimchi, I promise this doesn’t taste overly funky and fermented. It just has a ton of flavor. I sometimes find that there are stew ingredients that I leave in the bottom of my bowl, but not this one. We basically licked them clean.

I can’t wait to cook more recipes from this book!